Supernatural Hiatus Hunting: 5.04 “The End”
How nice was it to see John? I had to smile just at hearing his voice – glad to have him present in an episode, whatever the form. So far, we’ve had two episodes of four that have reached all the way back to season one for THEN – and as we’ve now had Meg, Jess and the Colt, it will be interesting to see how much more of the shows foundation bleeds through into this season and if other old friends (and foes) make a return appearance.
The Phone Call
More than a few things about the telephone exchange between the boys were salient. First and foremost, that Sam, in a complete 180 from last season, spilled to Dean everything that Lucifer had told him pretty much right away. And he didn’t need to. Despite this, the dynamic between them is clearly off, they are out of sync. Dean needed a beer to get through this conversation, never mind that it’s 4 a.m. and he’s just woken up. Last week, Dean drank during the tete-a-tete with Raphael, much like what we saw in season four as he tried to suppress the Hell ordeal that plagued him. The drinking is always an indicator that Dean’s not in a good place. “I guess I’m a little numb to the earth shattering revelations at this point.” Numb is probably an apt descriptor for what Dean is right now, without Sammy and a vocation as ‘an angel condom’ that will leave him vegitabled.
What struck me most was that Dean’s speech to Sam and the evidence he offered for “picking a hemisphere” wasn’t entirely irrational. This isn’t to say that the boys should stay apart, or that they’re better that way, but rather it demonstrated that Dean has thought this through before now. He’s identified in the past that the brothers are each other’s weak spots and now, add in the Heaven/Hell component, the idea that they stay apart makes sense. Dean is time and again driven by his emotional yearning to unite the family or keep the unit together. But not in this instance. It was a moment of character growth and some demonstrable maturity that was in line with his decision not to go after Sam in “Good God, Ya’ll” – Dean has changed.
Both boys were noticeably distressed by the conversation. Dean was upset by what he felt he had to do, stay away from Sam possibly forever, and my heart went out as the call ended and the anguish settled onto his face. Sam, more than usual, has me wanting to give him a giant hug and some Hagen Daaz all the time now, but especially when he and Dean ‘broke up’ again. With regard to Sam’s quest for redemption – Sam’s fire has been reignited since last week when we saw his fraught attempt to escape the life. Now, he is ready to face it down and fight like hell to come out on top.
The Tragedy
“Baby, no…Oh no. Baby, what’d they do to you?” – yup, that about sums it up doesn’t it?
The Doppelgangers
Jensen outdid himself in this one. In every scene featuring dual Deans, it was two completely different men on the screen. Future Dean was a complete transformation, from the deeper, gravelly voice, to the way he moved – the portrayal of a war hardened Dean was marvellously done. Gone was the humour and caustic wit and in its place was pure survival and mission fulfillment. Evidenced by the disregard of the Impala (which was very difficult to watch!) and the cold shooting of one of his men, Dean!2014 is a damaged man. Dean 09 was absolutely disgusted with what he had become – someone willing to sacrifice his friends (and Cas!), people who had put their trust into him. “Broken” was the word he used and I fully believe that “inhuman” was on the tip of his tongue.
The Disease
Okay, I have to admit that I was one of the people who didn’t really notice the Croaton storyline had been left hanging. Nothing came of it back in season two, yes, but I didn’t dwell on it either. That said, I was expecting more of a payoff given the fact that we were revisiting this plot point all these years later. That’s not to say it detracted from the episode, personally, because the ‘Croat’ storyline was completely dwarfed by the emotionally charged rest of the episode, and since the episode was so remarkable, that’s okay.
The Hippy
2014!Cas is so much more ostentatious than 2009!Cas and as fun as he was, I like our humanity-naïve, puritan, breast-fearing Cas best. The orgy had me laughing, half because of the expression on Dean’s face and half in light of the events of the Brothel Incident. It was a nice touch that Cas recognized instantly Dean to be an out of time Dean – I took this to mean he still had a modicum of “mojo” left from his angelic days. The five years has seen a role reversal in terms of camaraderie and ribbing. Cas was amused when future Dean was annoyed, though he was very loyal and largely unquestioning in following Dean, even though 2014!Dean was willing to use him as cannon fodder. The ‘fearless leader’ and ‘I like past you’ was also quite amusing. Misha was very convincing has hippy-drugged out Castiel – probably happy to get a change of wardrobe and make-up, and to change is usual angel-eyes expression for one of hazed, easy amusement. Castiel is thoroughly enjoyed when I see him on my screen and I’m satisfied to see TPTB have discovered fresh ways to use him without compromising the integrity of the character or exhausting him.
The Golden Toilet Paper
This episode was light on humour, but what it did have was quite droll. First, the continuing adventures of Cas and his cell. How great was the seriousness in his tone as he panicked to Dean about ‘the voice’ saying he was running out of time. Equally comical to me was the suspicious expression on his face when Cas pondered ‘what things?’ Dean, in his humanness, needed. In addition to Cas in this episode, we had the return of the prophet. Chuck is easily one of my preferred recurring characters (after Bobby, of course). He doesn’t try to be funny, but as a victim of circumstance Chuck is an endless source of enjoyment.
The Devil
This scene is one the best moments of the series – it was evocative, beautiful and tragic all at the same time. From the talent of Jensen and Jared to the dialogue to the set and filming itself, this is the reason Supernatural is my must-see TV.
Right off the bat – the acting was incredible in this episode. I think “The End” is one of those take-it-to-a-new-level instalments in the series. Jared’s performance as Lucifer was exceptional – there is no word that adequately encompasses how incredible he was in this incarnation.
Sam has puppy dog eyes and a shy smile, when he’s upset his face crumbles and his eyes are sad, wide and glittering. He doesn’t completely stand to full height and he has a thoughtful gait. Lucifer is none of these things. The eyes were nearly flat, holding some bemusement at Dean’s obvious shock and pain. His speech pattern and intonation was in no way Sam Winchester, it was a solid even tone with the exception of describing his fall, in which his voice took on a controlled disgust and somewhat richer tenor. Faux curiosity and patronization was seen as he fought to keep down a grin (in no way shy, more sadistic) as Dean called him out for the snake he is. Sure and confident movements, down to his gaze. Even when Sam was on demon blood and powerful, he was zealous and passionate where Lucifer is none of these things, despite the size of his ego and range of power. Jared so clearly wasn’t Sam in this sharp white suit and neutral, matter-of-fact air. The expressions on his face were transformative – wholly capturing the subtly that has been imbued in the character of Lucifer. Lucifer’s matter of fact delivery regarding how this will end up the certainty with which he speaks is crisp even as it achieves a whole new level of arrogance. The moment where Lucifer touches the rose and pontificates on the earth’s beauty (even though he’s evil) was very moving – the aesthetics of this moment where visual poetry: the grizzly background of the asylum and the grainy, grey-green forest along with the deep, rich red rose and the white suit was quite beautiful cinematography.
The raw pain in Jensen’s voice and the emotions that played across his face in this five minute encounter were crushing. Dean’s devastation and desperate sadness were palpable and despite this, he still gathered his courage and choked down his anguish: “You’re not fooling me you know that, with this sympathy for the devil crap. I know what you are…you’re the same thing only bigger; the same brand of cockroach I’ve been squashing my whole life. An ugly, evil, belly-to-the-ground, supernatural piece of crap. The only difference between them and you is the size of your ego.” This was very powerful and there is no other word for it. My heart broke at the absolute desolation of Dean’s face as Lucifer assured him this was the only end there ever could be: “Whatever choices you make, whatever details you alter, we will always end up, here. I win. So I win.” Simple, effective and foreboding.
Since I could go on about this scene for a very long time, allow me to bottom-line it: phenomenal, all around.
The Rescue
Okay, I had a moment where I thought Dean was going to say ‘yes’ to Zach this time and I was panicking, frantically (and spastically) yelling ‘NO, NO, NO’ at the TV. Only after he said ‘nah’ could I breathe again.
Many pondered and I’m inclined to agree that Zachariah added some spin to this future universe. Dean himself suspected this was the case, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t learn a lesson from the experience in the future, though not the intended lesson. What I believe got through loud and clear was that Sam and Dean are the balance in one another’s life and that consequences do have actions – without his brother to balance him, Dean becomes as obsessed with killing Lucifer as Sam was about Lilith and it costs him his humanity. The realization of what his future self is recalled events of “Jump The Shark” in that Dean finally understood how obsessed his father was and then Sam with revenge. Without Sam, future Dean returned to torturing and didn’t blink at the idea of sacrificing his friends, as long as the mission was completed.
Big kudos to Cas for poofing Dean to safety. Always glad to see Zach get screwed – and to have Cas be the one to do it was even sweeter. I thought Dean was going to hug Cas when he told him never to change. Cas’ half smile and “we had an appointment” was charming. Though the interaction here was short, it was a nice one. There was simple affection between the angel and his charge.
The Reunion
It was brief, it was awkward and it felt just right. Dean apologized and welcomed Sam back into the fold tentatively, but whole-heartedly. His words were earnest and his speech was just what Sam needed – I think it was Dean’s own way of forgiving Sam, too. Jared didn’t say much, verbally, with this one but boy, did his face do the talking – the soul-eyed, tearful gaze had me sniffling. The future (touched up by Zach or not) scared Dean – a lot. If nothing else, it gave him an extreme view of how things might play out and let him see exactly what he didn’t want to happen. Future Dean without his brother was cold and broken and Sam surrendered himself to Lucifer’s control because Dean wasn’t there. The simple act of staying together, of being brothers, is most essential to winning, which Dean realized: “I just know we’re all we’ve got. More than that, we keep each other human.”
The End
So, our boys are back together, even if it is coloured with uncertainty about the journey ahead. From the nature of the reunion, I think we’re headed towards a cautious re-emergence of brotherly bond as it once was and I look forward to Sam and Dean learning to trust one another and work side-by-side as equals again. This episode has become one of my favourite Supernatural instalments, easily; everything about it was exceptional.
Undoubtedly, this is a landmark episode in the Supernatural library. What becomes so evident, years later, is the depth of the emotional trauma each brother was suffering at the time. Of course it was known at the time, but as compared to the boys today – they’ve come a very long way in healing.
Questions of the day: (1) what stands out most starkly when comparing then and now? (2) favourite line from a character not Sam or Dean? (3) Any clues that have since become clear about how the apocalypse would be solved you notice on reflection?
I would also be remiss for failing to mention that the date Dean travels to in the future is August 2014, which of course, recently came to pass (thanks to the Winchesters for sparing us the post-apocolyptic mess we previewed all those years ago).
For More Fun with The End:
Check out Alice’s Original Blogcritic’s Review
Alice’s Original October 2009 Recap, with original photos
The WFB “The End” Photogallery
Elle’s Original Review
Ah yes the lesson that these two never seem to learn. If you run off to do your own thing one of you becomes the devil the other one wakes up a deanmon. Come on guys learn the lesson already and stick together.
I loved this episode. Jensen knocked it out of the park. He was fantastic in playing the subtle differences between the two Deans. Jared’s part was short but so powerful, heartbreaking and scene stealing. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, there was no trace of Sam anywhere. Jared is so good at these kind of roles. I agree one of the best scenes in the whole series. Loved the re-cap the first time I read it as well as the 3rd time. 🙂
I think this is one of the best or even the best episode of Supernatural in my opinion. Both Jensen and Jared nailed it and I liked the “Back to the future crap.” In a commentary I think they said that Jensen had called after it was fully shot and said “Don’t do this to me ever again” but he nailed both Deans even if it seemed to be pretty hard. With the commentary the whole episode opened up to me more and all the details. It was like a short one hour movie packing it all in it. Every one of the cast did great.
And also this was the first episode where I did something together with other fans and watched the episode with hubby (with commentary) It was the Croatoan day. Once in a lifetime in the real world so we painted Croatoan to our arms. It got even trending in twitter. It was fun and cool.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjJ6bnT9IMg#t=43[/video]
[img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bt-E9pcIYAAJoTE.jpg:large[/img]
Don’t worry. It is just paint.
[img]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bt-E8vlIAAEB8kf.jpg:large[/img]
Anyway the date was 1st of August 2014 from the camp sign. Luckily this was a good article to tell about it and I guess it is now a part of history as the date passed. 😀
– Lilah
I ADORED “The End”! I wasn’t writing for the WFB yet when that episode aired, but if you’d like to see my very long, very contemplative, very enthusiastic analysis, you can find the whole thing on my LJ here: http://bardicvoice.livejournal.com/58469.html ([url]”http://bardicvoice.livejournal.com/58469.html”[/url]). It’s way too long to repeat!
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